Across the area

Web posted October 29, 1998

From Staff and Wire Reports

Decontamination kit investigated

U.S. Army officials at Fort Jackson, S.C., have tested and examined a biological- and chemical-weapon decontamination kit found this week in the attic of a home in Belvedere.

The package, described as a gas mask bag containing liquid, is being kept in a sealed bag, said Fort Jackson Public Affairs Deputy Karen Soule. The contents have been X-rayed and photographed, and the Arabic writing on the package has been translated.

Belvedere resident James Peavey called the Aiken County Sheriff's Office on Monday afternoon after his mother found the package while cleaning out the attic of her Briarcliff Street home Sunday.

Officials from Fort Jackson and the State Law Enforcement Division's bomb unit took the package for safekeeping. They don't know how it got into the Peaveys' attic.

Information on the package is being sent to the Army's Technical Escort Detachment at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, Ms. Soule said. Officials there will determine how the package should be destroyed and whether that can be done at Fort Jackson or if the kit must be sent to Aberdeen.

Similar decontamination kits were used during the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

Toddler still in critical condition

A toddler hospitalized after a weekend auto accident remained in critical condition Wednesday at Medical College of Georgia.

One-year-old Jakera Ealey was the lone survivor of the accident that killed his 25-year-old mother and a 30-year-old Jackson man.

The accident took place Saturday morning on Silver Bluff Road in Aiken County when the Chevrolet Blazer driven by Nicole R. Ealey crossed the center line.

It ran head on into an Oldsmobile driven by Andra Lee, police said. Mr. Lee died at the scene, and Mrs. Ealey died later that morning.

Jakera was in a child-safety seat, but the seat may not have been installed properly, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

Services to honor fallen reservist

Augustans will honor Lt. Col. A. James Dyess today and Friday with a memorial service and two dedication ceremonies.

Jimmie Dyess, who died Feb. 4, 1944, during the World War II battle for Roi-Namur, was a Marine Corps reservist from Augusta. He is the only American to earn the Carnegie Medal of Heroism as well as the Medal of Honor.

At 6:30 p.m. today at St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Reynolds Street, a service of thanksgiving and remembrance will honor Lt. Col. Dyess and the men and women of the Navy and Marine Corps.

At 10 a.m. Friday, a ribbon cutting is scheduled at the new Jimmie Dyess Parkway, the extension of Belair Road to Fort Gordon.

At noon Friday, the U.S. Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center, 2869 Central Ave., will be rededicated and named for Lt. Col. Dyess.

Masked gunman holds up KFC

A masked gunman got away with an undisclosed amount of cash from a local fast-food restaurant Wednesday night.

A man wearing a clown mask walked into Kentucky Fried Chicken on Wrightsboro Road about 8:30 p.m., brandished a gun and demanded money. Authorities were still looking late Wednesday for the man, who was wearing gloves.

Civil War dead to be honored

A dedication and memorial service will be at Fort Creek Baptist Church in Dearing on Sunday to honor the lives of brothers Stephen and William McGahee.

They were killed July 2, 1863, in the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War. One of the brothers carried the regimental battle flag of the 48th Georgia Infantry until he was fatally wounded. Today, the flag is kept in the state Capitol in Atlanta.

The service starts at 3 p.m. in the church cemetery. The church is at 1497 Fort Creek Road S.E. in Dearing. For information or directions, call Kenneth E. McGahee at (706) 790-1400.

Plane crashes onto highway

ROSWELL -- A small plane crashed onto a busy suburban Atlanta highway during evening rush-hour Wednesday, striking several vehicles and killing the driver of a van, authorities said.

The Piper PA-32 and van meshed together and exploded into flames as they skidded into support columns of an overpass along southbound lanes of Georgia 400 shortly after 6 p.m., said Danny Bowman, a Fulton County fire battalion chief.

Traffic was closed in both directions of the freeway, which carries commuters between Atlanta and its northernmost suburbs.

The male driver of the van was burned beyond recognition. The female pilot, who was not identified immediately, suffered burns on her hands and arms and was taken to Grady Hospital in Atlanta.

The pilot was flying from Bessemer, Ala., to Gainesville, Ga., which is east of Roswell, said Preston Hicks of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Mr. Hicks said the pilot radioed Atlanta approach control reporting the loss of oil pressure and engine power.

Senate election could be voided

ATLANTA -- Results from next week's general election for an Atlanta state Senate seat could be voided if a judge grants the wish of a county commissioner who claims he won the Democratic nomination.

Fulton County Commissioner Gordon Joyner wants the votes from the Democratic runoff election for Georgia's state Senate District 38 seat to be recounted -- again.

In the initial tally, Mr. Joyner won the Aug. 11 runoff by one vote. But Horacena Tate took the nomination after a recount showed her as the winner. Mr. Joyner appealed, saying the election was so marred it should be voided and a new one conducted.

A trial is scheduled for Nov. 5 -- two days after the general election that pits Ms. Tate against Republican nominee Portia Scott.

Quadruplets die in hospital

Quadruplets belonging to a Saluda couple died in a Columbia hospital Tuesday.

The infants belonging to Alfred and Gina Fingerlin were born premature at Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital. Graveside services are scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday at Emory United Methodist Church Cemetery in Saluda.

Memorials may be made to Emory United Methodist Church Help Fund, Route 4, Box 563 F., Saluda, SC 29138, or to Mount Pleasant Lutheran Church Memorial Fund, 101 N. Calhoun St., Saluda, SC 29138.